Summary
According to a recent survey, West Bank Palestinians view
Israel as their preferred democratic model.

A forward-thinking Palestinian think-tank has just published
a survey which explores the type of democratic system under
which Palestinians wish to live.

According to the survey (reported in the Jerusalem Post on
5 June 2004), Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza view Israeli
democracy as their preferred model for a future Palestinian
state. They rank the Israeli democratic system ahead of that
of France, Germany, the US and others.

The survey was conducted by the Palestinian Centre for Policy
and Survey Research (www.pcpsr.org),
which is based in Ramallah in the West Bank. The Centre is politically
independent, and has a strong reputation for high-quality, non-partisan
analysis of public opinion. The latest results were announced
at a conference in May 2004 for professional analysts of democratic
systems.

The Centre’s latest survey findings follow a trend. Director
of the Centre, Dr Khalil Shikaki, was quoted as saying that
surveys conducted by the Centre since 1996 “consistently
show” that a majority of Palestinians view the structure
of Israel’s democratic regime as “a model”
for their own country in the future.

Our comment: Israel is widely demonised…..
but not, it seems, by Palestinians looking for guidance on how
to build their society.